From a hackathon project to a VC deal - Ruth Galvin

foreign [Music] I'm really excited to be here it's been amazing looking at all the projects that you have been building and submitting in your check-ins on the dashboard and I'm very excited today to kick off this session with Ruth from outlier Ventures um I'll spend some time talking about our Builders programs briefly and then I'll hand it over to Ruth so a lot of you here are are experimenting with a lot of ideas learning new technologies and building projects to solve problems you care about some of you are also here to build the next startup that will you know take up most of your time and that you will be really excited about and will continue putting in effort to building it out in today's session we are talking to this specific subset of people who would like to continue working on their project and take it to the next set and accelerate a program are a really great way to do that they're fixed down cohort based programs and they can give you that additional boost that you would need after building you know an early idea at the hackathon they are great places to get uh education on different technologies that you might want to incorporate in your project get mentorship from experts and people with a lot of experience in the field that whichever field your project may fall into um get access to resources speed technical in nature or be it related to helping you know actually turn an idea into a business and do all the other things that go into making a building a startup and also getting funding and financing options who are who are these right for and what what can teams expect they are intense and they are immersive or Ruth who will tell you more about it and there's plenty of opportunities to learn to interact with other startups in your cohort interact with mentors and there's a lot of Live Sync calls where people join from all over the world um there are four projects that have a good early product idea but they are not necessarily Revenue generating yet and not pre-drvenue and the highlight of any accelerator program is a demo day which happens at the very end of the program where investors get to see the refined idea that you have um now you would really you would have a good idea by the end of the hackathon an accelerator programs can really help you get traction for this idea be it figuring out Revenue generating clients or finding your first users or figuring out what your product roadmap should be there's like a hundred different questions that you may have to answer and accelerator programs are perfect to ask people pick people's brains in order to answer these questions for yourself a couple of really great teams uh that you see on the slide of fifth Swan and glitter have come out of first hackathons and then gone to accelerators without live Ventures and uh and and we have been very very glad to see them progress and mature and and take shape and their products take uh take better shape um on on the right you see a screenshot from a really great talk from one uh where he talks of this simple framework on how to start a startup um uh the you go from being a solo developer with an idea or maybe just a couple of teams uh with with a curiosity about some technology and then from there you go into you make into a hackathon project probably looking for Grants then possibly going to an accelerator and this this is the stage that the builders program at protocol Labs focuses on and there is there are opportunities at every single stage through this journey that you take from nearly being somebody with an idea to an actual company that may potentially raise millions of dollars and I'll briefly now talk about the builders program in my next slide um so like I said for every stage that you may find yourself at um we we have education uh developer education related resources that are available on Multi multiple different websites uh followed by hackathons if you've been at hackathon you know there's like ipfs file coin now fvm and a ton of other uh Tech products have always been there ever since like Factory hackathons have existed um this is followed by a grant program where ideas that you don't need that little extra boost before they can figure out what they would like to do then and can apply and get that support and mentorship and this is followed by accelerators where we partner with uh many different platforms and OB is one of our excellent Partners uh which then follow which is Then followed by teams sort of getting on their own seats and then raising investment from multiple different funds so that's a very very brief overview of the builders program at protocol labs and with this I will hand over to Ruth who will tell you more about how to go from a hackathon project that you currently have to an actual DCd yeah awesome thanks Nikki um I think there's really good good framing as well to to you know go forwards on um so hi everyone uh very happy to be here today uh speaking with you all so CSM Ruth the manager of the ipfs augmented this base camp at outlier Ventures um so uh yeah really really interested and you know super excited to see all the builders and the Creations that come out of hack FS uh this time so as Nikki mentioned we have had a number of our portfolio companies uh come from where you are sitting today um so if you're considering taking your idea to the level interested in joining an accelerator or looking to get you know if you see ready um I I hope you enjoy the session thank you so a bit of background on outlier Ventures so we were established in 2014 originally as one of the First Institutional investors globally dedicated to crypto and digital assets and by now we're one of the most active investors in the web 3 space so we have a portfolio of around about 250 companies and we work with you know a number of leading protocols and providers like filecoin IPS uh polygon polka dot appdos new order as well as Brands like farfetch and emblemat so a really large you know Community um both from a mentor perspective founder perspectives and so on so there's lots of opportunities for you know cross-collaboration within within the OV portfolio as well so at OV we've condensed you know nine years of learning into a virtual three-month accelerator uh we're now running our fifth cohort in collaboration with protocol ads in this year right now really has a core focus on both ipfs and fvm builders um uh historically you know these base camps have focused on key areas such as the financialization of the open data economy you know the open metabus both at the you know infrastructure and the systems you know we really saw ipfs as a backbone of the miniverse as well as Cloud 2.2.0 so decentralized storage and compute uh so over the three-month accelerator we provide Taylor's web 3 expertise support and mentorship across your products and Tech strategy go to market strategy token design mechanics governance community and marketing legal fundraising nft strategy as well as 100K stipends as well to take you to that next level so we're always looking for the latest Builders uh to support and invest in within the ecosystem and we bring this to life through a focus on your process partners and most importantly in your people so in terms of process this is all around creating Focus getting stuck in on the items that are most likely to move the needle as part of you're an execution kind of framework Partners so obi's been around since 2014's has a really extensive network in the space and it's great you know with protocol ads you know really really strong partnership there and then people so we have a cross-disciplinary team that has the Deep expertise across those various areas I mentioned you know product Tech legal Community um so all sorts there and then we also deploy resources into your startup so over the program you have a dedicated program associate and they can kind of act as a bit of an extension of your team during the program as well and then along with that is also mentors so our Mentor has come from across the web 3 ecosystem so again we've got Partners like protocol Labs exchanges startups investors I'm a wider web 3 community and I'll say these mentors they broadly fit within you know these different areas so friendly investors sector experts the main experts connectives and then Founders who have been in your shoes where you are today so what is a typical program new structure look like to bring it to life a bit so it's normally divided into three main parts at the beginning we have this intense feedback time so it's what we call mental Madness and really the objective is to look at what you are building now and where you're at and then give you lots of feedback from a variety of sources and then Define your goals second is you know really getting into knowledge building and best practices of building in the space and growing and then third is around execution and fundraising so really supporting you in executing your vision building your product and raising funding as well at the end and we support teams at all stages so early stage all the way to series a and we have two main programs for this so one is the base camp and it's really focused on supporting um uh teams you know maybe where you are post hackathon um and really take it to that next level and then we have the ascent program and that's like the graduate program for early stage startups um uh and you'll really look at the the later stage so support on scaling token design and then token launch as well so with all of that uh if you're looking to take your idea from a hackathon project to a VC deal it's really good to put yourself in the shoes of an investor and understands what they're looking for as well and as one of the most active investors in this space we see a lot of different teams here too and there's a range of criteria that investors will look at IU solving a core problem or solving for an unmet need you know what's your solution and business model as a market big enough to be attractive to obesity how does the solution stand up against competitors and a zero competitive mode um however the purpose in your obligation and for early stage projects I thought there's you know four key uh founder success factors that you know both OV and VCS tend to tend to look for and also credit to Blake from the OB team um for for these two so Team market and traction domain expertise and then also potential which is really key here so while you may be at the very beginning of this journey I think being aware of these things at this point can then help you to start to position you know your hackathon project and really get ready to take it to the next level so firstly team I think team is super important because at the early stages you know after a hackathon you might be a pre-mvp you only just have an MVP pre-revenue so you're still quite far away from you know what I like to call that minimum lovable product as well so you might not have as many tangible traction points that you can point to for an investor so investors are really uh investing into you as Founders so it's important to be aware of these three things as well you know firstly the vision and communication so do you have a vision that acts as a call to arms for others in the industry so is there a cool problem or burning platform that you're solving for does the vision challenge the status quo and you align with trainings or kind of Tailwinds within the market I mean are you able to communicate you know what it is what are the benefits to a specific stakeholder group and then we'll be able to Rally people to get behind it and then the the long-term Tech capability and incentives so do you have in-house resources to build the vision do the founders have the incentives to work on the project long term as well and then third is around adaptability and coachability I think this is an area that is sometimes overlooked that it can really you know make or break teams that we see so when curveballs come your way are you able to roll quickly you know with it with the punches um can you and the team follow a vision while also being flexible on the execution during your path to finding product Market fit and then particularly for newly formed teams can you work under stress and still be cohesive so there's lots of aspects that we you know we we look for you know we're looking at the founders and then start to work with on the teams as well so then secondly is around Market interaction so for the market dynamics you know have you identified an area that is understood or opened A disruption in your project really starts to kind of solve that do you have a narrative as to why existing customers will switch or new customers will choose your solution it has the business model you're starting to be validated in certain ways you can go big or you can go Niche so what's your strategy to capture the market so that you can start to think through those you know a little bit post post the hackathon and then the scalability potential so does this project and kind of how can you shape that narrative to really be able to generate your 10x or VC level returns in the market and then as a timing right so I think in startups you know timing was also everything um look at the company that can achieve fail at the critical mass point will win I think there's lots of examples in the past of this so are the broader your macro Trends really indicating that the timing is right and then the next category is around the main expertise and again for early stage projects I feel like this is this is really key like you're investing into the founders so do you know things that others don't maybe from your your background or your experience you've got some really really cool edges in in size um and so all of this kind of contributes to creating a bit of that unfair Advantage because you just naturally have more of that domain expertise it could also be around your network so from a hiring perspective are you able to hire you know rapidly and grow the team from where it is do you have connections with um with developers or CTO as well uh and then you know are you a voracious learner so this space is moving so fast you know six months can feel like three three years sometimes in terms of the amount of change and adaptability that's required so as a Founder growing your business you end up wearing multiple hats um so yeah always think I'm to learn and and so on it's both challenging but then Super rewarding too and then lastly is potential so VCS you know at this stage as well uh really looking for high potential in kind of 10x returns so it's not just where you are today but where you know we think and you can be in the future so at Oz We're literally looking for the outliers as well so um yeah I think that's that's a that's a key thing to think it up when you're speaking to someone like OV or investors and respects so what is the adoption potential you know how will this grow within the chosen area is there anything that might prevent project adoption and why would this your project be adopted over over others I think these are some of the questions you can start to to Think Through and then what are the edges in the modes so just like emote you're protecting a castle how are you thinking creatively about you know building building a merge as well uh and is the is the project you know developed and so on and have you got a first move for Advantage and then the last point is you know more of that progression to web3 so if it's more of an existing web 2 idea or you know I think really thinking about what's the right way to establish the web 3 angle or you know if it's moving into that space so I always think it's good to question is the project suitable for a token um uh is there actually a need for this or trying to just set it in so I think really kind of looking at from the the you know the first lens is really key so I think that's a quick overview of um you know what what investors might look for and and I think in the next stage can can really help you start to frame the The Narrative and think about next steps so if I were to summarize a few key things I would say remember you know who who is your team um uh VCS invest heavily in you as Founders what's your solution in market and then how can you really look at you know the potential of what you're building and then be able to shape that narrative as well if you would like to connect and talk about taking your project to the next level feel free to reach out to me directly or you can check out our website as well for upcoming base camps but once again really looking forward to seeing what you've all created uh and thank you hi so there's a question in chat um thanks for the talk Ruth I think we can take the question uh so it the question is what is a decent team size to apply with sometimes at early stage this could be a Max of three to five people your immune classic um uh no it's a good question though I mean in the in the past we've invested in in Solo Founders as well I think the most important thing is to make sure that you have at least like the CTO so sometimes if it's a solo founder it's been someone who has a c as a CEO and a CTR I think that ideal is around two um because then you're really positioned to also be able to scale you know quick uh if it's just a single person it's really hard to do it do it all um so that's what I'd say is you know if you can have you know both the CEO and the CTO role I would say that's the ideal cool any other question that was the only one um I see a few more people in chat we can hang in for another minute or so to see if there's any other questions and then I think that's it sounds good there's one question I have um normally what's the time duration you see that from a of a team a typical team being able to go from you know like a hackathon ready project to uh to to being VC funded or being accepted in an accelerator cohort yeah I I feel like so a lot does depend on um uh from that hackathon you know really really at the beginning of the builders funnel I think a lot depends on how um quickly can they progress the idea before you know from like a technical perspective so how much can they build uh their MVP and really be able to show investors because I think you want to make sure that your uh you know your product also matches your investing in kind of fundraising Milestones I think a lot of disorders have been on the market timing um you know so so right now versus other times you think we see teams getting um uh you know sometimes needing to have more solid you know product roadmap deliverables before kind of raising that that round so I think like investors do look at different things um depending on on the market so so yeah it can vary a little bit depending on the team depending on the product stage uh and then also the market timings got it we have one more question in the chat um where can we ask for feedback about projects and how can we apply better to the accelerator if possible yeah um for seeking questions so where can you apply uh if I can put it in the chat we have on our website at livevinages.io we have a number of accelerated programs and we should have the you know maybe a new ipfs or filecoin based Camp opening um soon so say you keep keep an eye out for that um I don't think I can pop it in the chat but but yeah it's Outlaw Adventures at dot IO you can plug it to me and we can pop it in the Discord yeah perfect yeah and where can we ask for feedback that's the part of the question and was that feedback on um your your project straight after a hackathon yeah I think so yeah I would say um I mean again feel free to reach out to myself directly I'm happy to provide some feedback um and I would say get feedback from a range of sources you know um whether it's speaking to uh you know someone an accelerator um from some kind of friendly mentors or from protocol Labs I think the more feedback you can get the the better and then also you know talk to your customers I think getting feedback from your customers whoever that is that the sooner you just you know get out there and and speak to them that the better um because at the end of the day that's really you know what what uh makes it makes a difference well um we have two more questions uh can you go on for another couple of minutes yes yes okay cool um how do we evaluate whether we have created a presentable MVP and it is time to move forward yeah I I would also say it's a presentable MVP is that um this is different lenses of that is it presentable to a customer or presentable to an investor and I think from maybe if I go from the customer perspective I think again if you are at that product testing phase um I think like the sooner you actually you know you think about the full MVP kind of um uh you know creating like a a bicycle um uh you know just just speaking to customers as soon as possible or I would really stress that um and then I think that starts to gauge how ready are you to start to speak to someone like an accelerator because you can gather more of these feedback points and and see are you on the mark do you feel like you have honed in on um being on to something whether that's a problem to solve or an unmet need and then you can start to progress it and then I think also then investors and accelerators uh that kind of follow-ons from that because you know once you've got the idea and you feel like you're on the mark and you're starting to test um that kind of product Market fit uh then it's a lot easier to to kind of go up from there okay cool and the last question is what could reduce a Project's chance of getting into an accelerator despite having a good product and deal um so I would say yeah product team so maybe market so is this something that's happening in the market maybe it could feel like it's quite early in in the market um or it's quite late you know is there already a lot of thing competition and um uh you know it's a struggle to be able to you know both communicate how you know your project your project might have really really good tick but is it likely to be able to compete with what is there already and actually you'll gain more market share um so I would say yeah on top of that markets competition um and last one would just be thinking about you know also the the business model so is there like a level of commercial you know viability as well to be attractive from a VC perspective um yeah yeah maybe I would add one more thing to it is being able to communicate well even if you have like a good product and a good team and then you have new stuff or the other factors that you talked about if your pitch is not great there it's a bit of a soupy place to be in yeah yeah no I I agree I agree with that and those things I think uh easier to to change so if you've actually got really good team really really good product I think it's in a good position and then those other things you can you know refine easier yeah yeah cool okay maybe we take one last question they just keep coming um okay how can one convince Angel Investors and keep the project going even after rejection yeah rejections hard I think being a Founder isn't an easy Journey you're faced with rejection just constantly um so I mean you might have in your 100 conversations with VCS and I think if you even bake that into the expectation that even like the top projects the top companies you know um that are multi-billion dollar companies now they still got rejected um early on and they just needed some of those early Believers to back them to see the potential and the founders and then the idea um so I would say yeah it's it's really hard and I think a lot of respect for Founders you know for putting yourself out there um and I think then it you know connects with that Vision if you really believe in what you are building and you start to test it out and then you can figure out the right narrative and then get some data points to to prove that you're also onto something with customers and then yeah there's an element of just also in your resilience that is there and being willing to Pivot you're if you find that you're not going down the right path um and you get some data to you know look look at another way I think being able to be adaptable and and uh and you know change from there is also also good cool I think that's it and thank you for the wonderful job Ruth and uh and answering all the questions no worries um great great to be here thanks everyone thanks for joining bye thank you bye